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Oh no, there's metal in your records!

IMO, this is completely out of left field. But, here’s the story. On Saturday, there was a "seminar" at the local stereo shop about why you should listen to high quality records. It turned out to be a 3 hour commercial for this dude who wants to market his services as a "HQ record shopper" of sorts. For a mere $240, you get an annual subscription to his services. You pick a title, and he will find the "best available" version of the record... so you can buy it. And, when he brings it to you, he’ll bring other similar records for you to buy. Most of these records are in the $50 to $100 range, so this "service" clearly not for me. Plus, I kind of like the hunt for a gem.

Anyway, the point of the post: One thing he said is that some older vinyl has metallic content embedded in the vinyl, and that it can interact with your cartridge’s magnet, causing distortion. Therefore, you should only buy the newest, most pristine (hence most expensive) vinyl records... from him, of course. I didn’t want to challenge him on the spot in front of others, but in my mind I’m thinking this is the most ridiculous claim I’ve ever heard. Even more ridiculous than gems you place on your speakers to change the way they sound... but, I digress. I understand he wants to show the true value of his "service"... but, seriously? Interesting business idea... but metal in the vinyl?

Just for fun, I did a little bit of google searching for metal in vinyl, and I found links to Metallica and Whitesnake records, but no stories about the metal embedded in the vinyl. So, can you prove me wrong, or just remind me that I’m not all that gullible. Please! Anyone have any information about such a wild claim?
128x128soundermn
ivan_nosnibor's avatar
ivan_nosnibor
1,047 posts
 
Even supposing the guy has a way to tell which records are magnetic, is he going to tell anybody what the method is? Uhh...no.....probably because it's something any of us could do without any special tools...and likely could be done for free.
soundermn's avatar
soundermn OP
344 posts
 
@ivan_nosnibor I think that's the concept of the carbon black.  But, I still don't believe it makes any appreciable difference.  I've also heard that colored vinyl has its own limitations.  

In the end, I think my BS meter was on target.  If it sounds good, just enjoy it!  I'm not ready to trade all my records for clear vinyl.  :-)
lewm
13,088 posts
 
The presence of magnetizable (ferrous) metal in the vinyl and the question of static charge building up on the LP surface are two entirely different things.  As some know, you can buy a device designed to degauss an LP; I don't know whether it's still on the market, but I think Furutech made it (and sold it for something like $2500!!).  In reaction to that product, there were a lot of on-line debates about ferrous material in vinyl.  Some talked about buying much less expensive tape degaussers found on eBay, to do the same thing for less money.  But nowhere at any time did I read of any convincing evidence that there actually IS any ferrous material in vinyl.  The thought that newly made LPs would be free of this (non)issue is kind of laughable.  Anyway, to the best of my ability to investigate, there is no evidence that vinyl contains ferrous metals.  One of my audiophile friends has a Furutech degausser gathering dust in the corner of his listening room.  He would rather not talk about it.

On the other hand, as anyone knows who plays LPs, the surface of an LP is very prone to pick up static charge, and there are various ways to deal with it.  The most popular is using a Zerostat, although many do not use the Zerostat properly.  However, it makes us feel good to use a Zerostat after brushing. 
geoffkait's avatar
geoffkait
23,365 posts
 
He would rather not talk about it? Ooooo! The mystery deepens. Very scary! 😳
lewm
13,088 posts
 
He would rather not talk about spending $2500 (less the discount he probably finagled) for the Furutech demagnetizer that he now never uses and from which he never detected a benefit.  OK?  Was trying for a bit of humor.
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